Systems, Methods and Devices for the Rapid Assessment and Deployment of Appropriate Modular Aid Solutions in Response to Disasters

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of a disaster response system is disclosed that includes a communication and monitoring environment (CME). The CME includes an incident command infrastructure, and a communication infrastructure configured to exchange data with the incident command infrastructure. The communication infrastructure includes a network comprising a plurality of sensor assemblies that are configured to wirelessly communicate with the communication infrastructure. The sensor assemblies are configured to acquire data that includes at least one of environmental conditions, motion, position, chemical detection, and medical information. One or more of the sensors are configured to aggregate data from a subset of the plurality of sensors. The CME is configured to detect an incident based on at least the data acquired by the sensor assemblies.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/870,117, filed Aug. 27, 2010, and entitled “Systems, Method andDevices for the Rapid Assessment and Deployment of Appropriate ModularAid Solutions in Response to Disasters,” which claims the benefit ofpriority to GB application serial no. GB0914962.6, filed Aug. 27, 2009,the content of each being hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION(S)

The invention relates generally to systems, devices and methods forglobal disaster response, more particularly to the rapid detection,qualified assessment and monitoring of disasters and electronic triageof victims, communication, alert and evacuation systems, provision ofsuitable modular sensing or aid solutions, and their rapid deploymentvia delivery platforms such as mobile applications and networks, remoteoperated vehicles (unmanned aerial sea or land systems) or targeted airdelivery, automated or robotic support means, or pre-deployment.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes andother mass emergencies represent significant threats to mankind in termsof mortality, injuries, chaotic reaction of civilians and responseorganizations. With over half the world population now living in urbanareas, the complexity of the response phase is also increasing in termsof search and rescue across a damaged three-dimensional cityscape,rapidly and effectively assisting large numbers of casualties orcitizens across a wide area with medical aid or evacuation advice, lossof main communications networks, delay or damage to responseinfrastructure—transport, energy and medical facilities, anddifficulties in logistics and distribution of aid resources. Similarlywith large scale disasters the mass displacement, refugee volumes andneed for substantial sustenance in terms of large scale medicalassistance, food, clean water, habitat and infrastructure in the daysfollowing a disaster is significant and can result in considerablethreat to life, medical needs and other problems if not addressed andmanaged properly.

For example, in a major earthquake, damage can be sustained overthousands of square kilometers, resulting in millions of people impactedor displaced, loss of transport/access and communicationsinfrastructure, electricity and medical facilities within the region,and consequential fires, flooding, aftershock damage, sanitation/waterissues, habitat and food crises. In the 2008 Sichuan 7.9 Earthquake some70,000 people were killed, and another 5 m made homeless. FEMA estimatethat an afternoon 8.3 magnitude earthquake on the San Andreas faultcould kill 11,000 people instantly and over 44,000 needinghospitalization. Similarly in the Katrina Hurricane in New Orleans,groups of people did not evacuate and were left isolated creatingclusters in need but no emergency personnel were able to reach them forseveral days. War zones and famines also create huge displacements andvolumes of refugees, and significant medical and sustenance challengesin aid camps.

Various proposals have been made to improve emergency broadcast systems,or methods of directing people to safety during an emergency whereby awireless device extracts directional information from an emergencysignal or receives notifications and evacuation plan, e.g. U.S.application Ser. No. 11/965,204 by Kane et al., U.S. application Ser.No. 11/966,536 by Nowlan et al., U.S. application Ser. No. 12/069,899 byMendelson, U.S. application Ser. No. 12/281,456 by Huber, and U.S.application Ser. No. 12/315,848 by Norp et al.; Distributing warningmessages to plurality of mobile devices within a defined geographiclocation was also disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/862,742 byLangsenkamp et al.

However, none of these solutions addresses the challenging scenario offailing networks during or after a disaster, which the inventionaddresses by using pre-caching of information and novel burst-SMScondensed message structures sent to selected subpopulations accordingto their geo-location to provide advice, resources and guidedevacuation, and enable incident command to better direct evacuation withlimited network bandwidth.

Systems for professional incident response teams have also beenproposed, e.g. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/410,003 by Lewis, forautomatically uploading wirelessly maps and preprogrammed instructionsto a mobile phone prior to entering a disaster zone to support teamsfocused on both short and long term recovery operations and relies onstored data and base unit availability, but does not address real-timeinformation or data for civilian usage, or the benefits of the inventionin enabling any user of mobile phone who is already present in adisaster zone to access relevant data stored on the phone itself. Thephone would be continuously synching local maps, local floor-plans, andpoints of interests (medical resource, toxic and other hazards) into itslocal memory cache upon entry into new zones, risk areas or buildings.Said local data essentially being ‘rehydrated’ or refreshed seamlesslyin the background, and expandable or unlocked and made available to theuser upon a disaster even if the network is down.

Currently there are systems for remote monitoring of personnel,especially for monitoring the well being of military personnel on thebattlefield and during training exercises. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No.6,198,394 by Jacobsen et al.; Similarly, sensor-based patient monitoringand tracking is already used extensively in hospitals. During anemergency event involving mass casualty rapid e-triage (electroniccounting and sorting) of patients by early responders, rather than usageof paper tags, is an essential early step in the emergency responseprocess. Such solutions were proposed in U.S. application Ser. No.11/741,756 by Gao et al., U.S. application Ser. No. 11/895,762 byVasquez et al., and U.S. application Ser. Nos. 12/213,672, 12/213,673and 12/213,675 by Graves et al.

Early feasibility studies of e-triage as performed by professional firstresponders were indeed very promising. See Killeen J P. A wireless firstresponder handheld device for rapid triage, patient assessment anddocumentation during mass casualty incidents. AMIA Annu Symp Proc2006:429-33; Massey T et al. The Design of a Decentralized ElectronicTriage System. AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2006:544-548; Gao T, White D. A Nextgeneration electronic triage to aid mass casualty emergency medicalresponse. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2006; Suppl:6501-4; and Jokelaet al. Implementing RFID technology in a novel triage system during asimulated mass casualty situation. Int J Electron Healthc 2008;4(1):105-18. Each of these references are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety for all purposes.

Such e-triage would be extremely valuable in terms of rapidly generatingtrusted data in terms of situational awareness, allocation of necessaryresources and prioritization for evacuation. Attaching a wristbandcontaining machine readable information to each victim of the group wasproposed as a method for rapid tracking of trauma victims andascertaining continuity of treatment. See e.g. U.S. application Ser. No.12/132,668 by Carlton. In the invention the provision of electronicbracelets would further enable real-time monitoring of all casualties,optimal continuous treatment at all levels and generation of reliablestatistics for governmental disaster database. It is foreseeable thatnovel electronic triage performed by first-on-scene professionalvolunteers or by eligible civilian volunteers like Community EmergencyResponse Teams would further facilitate an even faster situationalawareness and improve the immediate care. The data generated by thevolunteers would feed the dispatched first responders as well as alllevels of incident command.

Moreover, as RFID tags, communication, sensors, memory and processingbecome cheaper and with greater capacity said bracelet functionalitycould become common in standard wearable electronics, people couldroutinely use them to download their relevant previous medical history,allergies, genetic predisposition, etc. These bracelets would thus bealso readily available to be used for self e-triage or e-triage byfirst-on-scene untrained civilians.

In yet another useful embodiment the above mentioned bracelets wouldenable effective search and rescue. Tracking people and assets inmultistory building by RFID tags was proposed in U.S. application Ser.No. 11/868,908 by Deavilla. A further goal of our invention, in certainnatural disaster scenarios, like a Tsunami or a Hurricane where there issufficient warning time, is deploying such bracelets to a scene andwearing these would become an integral part of the recommended standardof civilian preparedness.

Numerous proposals suggest how to provide high situational awareness inthe aftermath of a disaster mainly by allocating cellular communicationnetwork resources to emergency response personnel or by prioritization.See e.g. U.S. application Ser. No. 11/609,216 by Gage et al., Ser. No.12/273,146 by Smith and Ser. No. 12/423,062 by Greene et al. A goal ofthe invention is to introduce new trust levels and application tools onphones to enable first-on-scene civilian volunteering physicians orother civilian volunteers with some relevant training to be able tocontribute in the event of the disaster by using the application or byaccessing special bracelet or other wearable devices. Such volunteerscould also undertake special training to be eligible to assist e-triageor medical assessment.

These users would be identified by the emergency operators astrustworthy and categorized and weighted to their experience or skilllevel so that their field reports would be qualified and trusted by theincident command. Apart from medical triage and medical reports theywould be able to assist in surveying aspects of damage sites and provideearly trusted situational assessment. Additionally, bi-directionalcommunication between them and the incident control would further assistin clarifying swiftly the situation on the ground.

A medical device inventory management system including one or more RFIDtags was proposed in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/579,517 by Ortiz etal, however, does not address the wider inventory management and aiddeployment opportunities of the invention, enabled by the combination offirst responders, applications, bracelet devices, and medical kitsolutions and integration with incident command systems, dataaggregation and analysis systems, as well as increased resiliencethrough messaging, delay tolerance and mesh network approaches.

Various prior art also outlines the application of UAV (unmanned aerialvehicles) in field situations, generally in military conflict, and theirrole in surveillance, targeted weapon delivery, medical assistance,however, do not address some of the benefits of the invention deploymentapproaches in large scale deployment of low cost, or light UAV systems,coordinated UAV cluster or swarm activity via a central command UAV, orcombination with some of the sensor modules, deployment and dropsolutions, or modular payload solutions described herein.

Despite the numerous examples of prior art in the field of disastermanagement, communications infrastructure and medical assistance, fewaddress the problems outlined here or provide the benefits of theholistic and integrated approach to utilize skilled assets alreadycaught up in the disaster, simple accessible tools, modular designedsolutions, integrated e-triage approaches, communication approaches andrapid delivery systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION(S)

According to embodiment of the invention, there is provided systems,devices and methods for global disaster response, more particularly tothe rapid detection, qualified assessment and monitoring of disastersand electronic triage of victims, communication, alert and evacuationsystems, provision of suitable modular sensing or aid solutions, andtheir rapid deployment via delivery platforms such as mobileapplications and networks, remote operated vehicles (unmanned aerial seaor land systems) or targeted air delivery, automated or robotic supportmeans, or pre-deployment.

In accordance with aspects of the invention, there is provided adisaster response system (DRS), preferably comprising at least one of orin combination; a communication and monitoring environment (CME),modular aid solutions (MAS), deployment system (DS).

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention and together with the detailed description herein serve tofurther explain the principles of the invention:

FIG. 1. Illustrates a high level schematic of elements of the DisasterResponse System (DRS) 1 preferably comprising at least one of or incombination a communication and monitoring environment (CME) 2, modularaid solutions (MAS) 3, deployment system 4 (DS).

FIG. 2. Shows a schematic of a User interface and window function flow26 for an example software application for running on a phone clientdevice 5.

FIG. 3. Shows a further schematic of a phone client device 5 running asoftware application displaying an example evacuation map 40, andsuggested route 41 to a evacuation path or safe cluster area 42.

FIG. 4 shows an example schematic of a client phone device 6 being usedto facilitate the qualified reporting of a disaster site using menuselections 50 and categorizing via tiered menu icons 51.

FIG. 5 shows example first aid capsule 53 and kit 54 (as modular aidsolution 3) that could be rapidly deployed to the scene by deploymentsystems.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a modular aid solution (3) being anintelligent medical kit 64 capable of being worn on the person by meansof an outer case 65 capable of also attaching specialist modules such asresuscitation 66 or specialist disposables such as orthopedic vacuumsplinters 67.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In a preferred embodiment said CME may comprise a communicationinfrastructure such as a sensor network or cellular phone network,consisting of a plurality of sensor, wearable units or client phonedevices, wireless radio communication means, back-end server and datainfrastructure, and management and advice tools. Where said network andinfrastructure is capable of wireless data exchange with sensor devicesor wearable units, or transmitting compact ‘text’ SMS messages (Shortmessage service e.g. up to 160 7-bit characters), voice or other dataservices to/from end client phone devices, in normal operation, or iscapable of basic data transmission and exchange in reduced operation, oris capable of real-time or delayed transmission of compact prioritymessages when infrastructure is down or re-established during a disasterby means of a modular solution aid (MAS) communications mast,transponder or repeater, deployed to the scene via a deployment system(DS).

Said CME also preferably comprising a monitoring environment for localor user data gathering in real-time or delayed transmission, by means ofa sensor on a sensor device, wearable unit or phone client device, suchas a light, temperature or audio sensor, camera, scanner, MEMS(Micro-electromechanical system), chemical, biological, or motionsensor, for measuring for example an environmental property, geo-graphiclocation (e.g. via a GPS—global positioning system chip, oraccelerometer and computation or triangulation means) or site scene datacapture, or via external sensor apparatus (e.g. a medical equipment).Said phone client devices also in further embodiments capable ofwireless data exchange or aggregating data messages from nearby sensorsor wearable units.

Said monitoring environment data gathering also by means of a softwareapplication and memory on said sensor, wearable unit or phone clientdevice that facilitates a sensor computation or history analysis, userpreferences and security management, local data caching, or facilitatesuser driven new data entry, menu tree and icon selection and drill downquestions or status flags.

Said sensor computation or history analysis for example being an alertor event detection on a step-change in performance, change pattern orreporting of a sensor as described, such as a accelerometer, orenvironment sensor, or a combination of a sensor history or multiplesensors. For example a computation may detect a fall or car in motion,transport action or likely accident event by means of a change in GPSand accelerometer behavior. Similarly a correlation of a stationaryphone changing to a periodic oscillation with other periodicities inother phones or sensors, may indicate an earthquake event, and thereby anetwork of phones and sensors reporting data could enable a precise mapof earthquake impacts across a region, and as actually experiencedacross different soil types and building formats. Similarly a real-timeaudio sensor and correlation across a group may indicate a shooting,blast or environment sensor a pollution or other event. Similarlyaggregate and correlated GPS or device location data providesinformation on groupings of people as well as historic or predictabletrajectories, enabling clusters of people to be identified orprioritized in the event of a disaster. Such data where locally cachedalso providing a form of information resource to enable a user tore-trace their steps when lost or as one evacuation choice option.

Said user preferences and security management being a means to controlaccess to any sensor data shared dynamically with the network, such thatGPS trajectory data could be hidden and unavailable in normal use, butset with a preference to release to a relative, employer or emergencyservice in the event of a disaster or crises event, e.g. the ability foran employer to see last location and number of employees in specificlocations. Similarly said security management may be used to allow theclient phone to have previously stored or receive background data, butonly be able to access the data in the event of a disaster or onsecurity key release. Said user preferences data—also providing a meansto authenticate the user and trust or experience level, for example atregistration or set-up. Said trust level providing to employers orexternal authorities the experience of qualification skill level of theuser, e.g. first aid qualification or civic role (e.g. school teacher,first responder, office safety manager, community emergency responseteam (CERT) level) to enable any data exchange with an incident commandor emergency service to be qualified by trust level for accuracyassessment or potential leverage of the resource caught up in thedisaster.

Said local data caching, being a means of complementing base data storedon the device, with geo-local or disaster relevant data—updated onrequest or in the background when entering a new or specific zone ofrisk, or received by the device in advance of a predicted event ordisaster risk, or updated wirelessly in proximity to a disaster dataresource point (e.g. in a building), or updated at the instance of adisaster via a rapid broadcast system, or following a disaster when anetwork communication becomes available. Similarly local data cachingmay be used to store recent sensor history or GPS data, as a form of‘black box’ data track for analysis or newly entered user or gathereddata, to send on request or when a communication network becomesavailable.

Said base data may for example include general disaster and safetyadvice, including emergency aid advice such as initial actions, or firstaid advice and instructions. It may also include local data relating tothe frequent home and office locations of the user, downloaded atregistration or updated wirelessly when in that location, such as localmap, key medical or emergency contact locations in the area, location ofnearest medical resources (e.g. first aid kits, defibrillators inoffices) or details of employer/office first aid contacts. Similarly itcould contain state information—e.g. local laws or state advice ondisasters (e.g. earthquakes or hurricanes and links to notableresources—e.g. websites). For a state, civil organization or corporationusing the system, said base data could be maintained as part of the backend server and data infrastructure and updated frequently.

Said pre-cached or post event geo-local or disaster relevant data orrisk zone could for example include local evacuation points or routes,floor plans, local points of interest—such as medical resources or firstaid points, hazardous material on site or advice on such hazards. Riskzones could include transport systems—providing transport specificsafety advice (e.g. for ships, airplanes or trains), or when usersundertake a risky activity (e.g. a sport or using power tools), or visita specific site (e.g. an industrial or factory site). End client devicescould automatically receive and cache such detailed local data based ongeo-tag information shared with the back-end server, and pre-stored inthe background, and then deleted after a period of time, or afterleaving the zone. Detailed information—such as full floor plans orhazardous materials could also be encrypted via security keys, and onlyreleased via a security key or key trigger issued in the event of adisaster or local alarm release. Said local alarm preferably having ameans of sending a signal to the back-end server to enable a broadcastrelease of a security key, data or link to disaster data resourcepoints. Similarly in further embodiments such site specific data couldbe stored and cached on any phone but only made available to qualifiedresources at a certain level, or password security key access (e.g.professional emergency response).

Site specific data could also be stored in a disaster data resourcepoint (e.g. secure SD data card or USB drive) in a building capable ofbeing accessed from a distance via a wireless or radio connection by asecure reader held by local emergency crews, which would be especiallyvaluable in the case of hazardous materials on site, and could become asuggested legislated requirement. Said data resource points could alsoin further embodiments keep a real-time monitor and count of allpersonnel in the facility as a form of building ‘black box’ to aidemergency resources in the event of a mass casualty or collapse event.

Said base data and pre-cached local information, or building disasterresource points, having significant benefit in the event of a disasterwhen networks are unavailable or over-loaded, as end client phonedevices could be used as a resource and evacuation aid, havingappropriate immediate map, evacuation and point of interest data.

Said data exchange being in preferred embodiments, mediated by means ofa disaster messaging standard (DMS) capable of coding and compressingkey information and data resources into short messages or data packetscapable of being sent via SMS or other emergency exchange protocols,such that pre-cached local information such as evacuation maps or pointsof interest, can be exchanged efficiently with delay tolerance at lowdata rate and bandwidth, and requiring minimal battery and processinguse, to enable data to be cached effectively. Similarly in the event ofa disaster, concise additional information can be broadcast ordownloaded to phones containing key data without absorbing valuable highdata network communication. Said disaster messaging standard (DMS)capable of being visualized rapidly via a Disaster Markup Language (DML)so that key features, e.g. points of interest of evacuation on a map,could be sent efficiently and layered onto an existing local mapco-ordinates in an analogous way to a mapping keyhole markup language(KML), or used as an extendable mark-up language (XML) to tag and parsedata from one disaster storage form and share with other resources orform disaster resource ontologies. Said DMS and DML formats enabling agreater enquiry, compatibility and exchange of data between disastersystems.

Said software application preferably being usable for user driven dataentry and selection using a series of menus, icon selection and drilldown questions and status flags, to simplify user data entry, ensureconsistency in disaster data categorization and facilitating coding intoa disaster messaging standard (DMS). Said categorization for examplecould utilize application version number, menu layer, option, and flagresult, to compress complex information into a short form string, thatcould be transmitted and allow classification at the back-end server anddata infrastructure level, expansion and visualization via a similarmark-up language, automatic clustering and prioritization.

Such user driven data entry could in preferred embodiments include amenu and icon driven approach to enable users to provide reports on anincident or disaster, including classifying type and scale of disaster,assessing number of victims or casualties in need of assistance, orprioritizing request for resources and assistance. Similarly said endphone clients could capture photographs, audio, text commentary or othersensor data from the site, and transmit the data or process to report ata meta-tag level key parameters, such as photo time, location,direction, classification type for transmittal via a DMS string, or tobe sent on demand should bandwidth become available or if the remotesystem releases an authorization to send a larger data file. Such anauthorization could form a release sequence header on the string or SMSto determine a transmission priority, where said CME networkinfrastructure provides transmission access or priority to suchmessages. Similarly in a further embodiment of a deployment systemcomprising an unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with local communicationsmast/transponder module, said devices could accept such larger datamessages with sequence headers, and relay them via an uplink, meshnetwork or satellite system, as an alternative to such messages beingsent via the damaged communications infrastructure.

In a preferred embodiment, such a user driven data entry system could beapplied to assist disaster site medical triage, by enablingsemi-qualified people or semi qualified personnel who are caught up in adisaster site to use the software application on a phone client deviceto provide site reports and medical assessment of casualties, todescribe and prioritize those in need of the most urgent medicalassistance or for which limited medical resources would have thegreatest impact or likelihood in saving or preserving life. Suchdecisions are complex, emotional and require accurate field data, toallow incident command to assess how best to deploy often limited ortime delayed medical resources, personnel and medical aid to the field.Said trust level of the user, together with structured menus, and use ofDMS transmission codes, allow data to be aggregated and scored byqualification level, to aid incident command decisions and victim numberand location assessment. First professional responders arriving on thescene could then also utilize similar tools on phone client or PDAdevices to make and report further triage assessments or of large groupsof people at evacuation sites, or refugee camps, to prioritize the needfor medical assistance. Such prioritization is likely to be critical inthe large scale disasters such as earthquakes described earlier.

In a preferred embodiment, electronic information bracelets or otherwearable devices could assist the process of electronic triage, wheresaid bracelets are carried or placed on people or casualties caught upin the disaster, to aid tracking of their location, tagging electronicdata—such as triage level, medical assessment, name or medical details(e.g. blood type, diabetes, allergies), and avoid duplicated assessmentor double counting of victims observed by other parties. Said braceletstypically comprising a low power and low cost form of short rangecommunication such as RFID, Zigbee, Bluetooth, a machine readablememory, an optional power unit (such as a coin battery cell, or powerpaper strip), a low energy display such as liquid crystal, OLED or LED,affixing means—such as a strap capable of secure attachment to the wristor leg in a manner to preferably prevent easy removal by the user, ameans of attaching or affixing a printed label or record. In a furtherembodiment said bracelet could support more advanced communication, suchas a two-way text data exchange or low cost phone module, could becoated with an electroluminescent material or a piezo-luminescentmaterial capable of light generation with motion, or include moreautomatic vital signs monitoring means such as means to measure bloodrate or pulse rate of the wearer by means of sensors or wires within thestrap or a cuffless device, or detection of skin capacitance variance,or respiratory rate via impedance measurement, or through connectivitywith other implantables (pacemaker/defibrillator, HR monitor, BPmonitor).

Said bracelet capable of exchanging and synchronizing data with a nearbyphone device, medical PDA or intelligent medical kit unit, or wirelesslywith a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) or communications mast/transponderdeployed to the field, or in further embodiments to form a mesh networkwith other bracelets for information exchange. Said bracelet alsocapable of storing critical patient medical record details (such asblood type, allergies, medical treatments) preferably as a DMS messageformat.

Said phone application, Medical PDA or bracelet capable of showing andstoring in machine readable or user visual form, traditional triagecategory nomenclature (CDC) priorities of Priority I Red: Immediate(e.g. controllable massive bleeding, tension pneumothorax), Priority IIYellow: Delayed (e.g. simple but significant fracture—femur, hip andhumerus), Priority III Green: Minor (e.g. abrasions, contusions,sprains, simple lacerations, walking wounded), Diseased/Expectantpatient—Black (minimal chance of survival, e.g. massive headinjuries, >95% 3^(rd) degree burns).

In a preferred embodiment, said medical triage and assessment could beaided by a first aid diagnostic kit comprising basic first aid materials(such as plasters, bandages, scissors, anti-septic patches) and aplurality of diagnostic tools, such as a for HR EKG/ECG(electro-cardiography), Oximetry, pulse and blood pressure monitor, USBultrasound. Said diagnostic kit being preferably comprised of a satchellike pouch containing first aid materials and a cylindrical electronictriage pouch containing a plurality of electronic triage bracelets. Saidbracelets could be wrapped around a smartphone when deployed asstand-alone of shippable unit. Said kit could be purchased or availableto qualified users of the phone software application, or stored in cars,homes or office first aid locations. Said first aid diagnostic kit orelectronic triage pouch could also be packed within a compact capsulesuitable for deployment to the scene, by means of a UAV or localizedair-drop, pre-deployed e.g. in vending machines, or available at massretail locations. Said software application storing data on nearestlocation of said kits, by means of the local caching and DMS messageexchange, enabling the user to find nearest medical aid resources bymeans of menu selection.

Said software application containing suitable menus and workflows tofacilitate the capture of data recorded via said plurality of diagnostictools, and optional help pages to aid instruction should procedures beless familiar to the operator. Said software application could also aidautomatic monitoring and recording of nearby bracelets (to trackrespiratory rate, blood pressure) or connect with implantables, as wellas access patient medical data.

In a preferred embodiment professional first responders would bedispatched to the main disaster sites with an appropriate intelligentmedical kit. Said intelligent medical kit preferably being formed as aseries of modules and back-bone capable of rapid configuration for adisaster site or type, or extension and tailoring based on the gatheredtriage and medical data on needs and volumes of casualties at specificsites e.g. via DMS messages sent from phone software applications orread from nearby electronic bracelets. Said intelligent medical kit,also preferably being designed in an overall modular form, capable ofbeing deployed to a site by means of a UAV or directed air-drop means,carried or worn on the person.

Said intelligent medical kit capable of interacting with said electronicbracelets and e-triage data in order to prioritize and guide first aidand medical assistance, update patient bracelets with new diagnostics,treatments or aid required, communicate with back-end systems andelectronic medical records (EMR) and overall casualty management systems

The medical kit preferably comprising a computing device, docking pointfor a rugged PDA with medical tools (such as diagnostic advice, medicalcalculator, pulse timers, prescriptions/dosage assessment), slave lowenergy display screen such as an e-ink material (used for example todisplay records or field victim management software), wireless radiocommunication, extendable processing capability (e.g. a re-configurableXMOS reprogrammable processor), battery power back and renewable powersolutions, voltage convertors and USB hub for data/power connectivity,lighting solutions such as portable LED or OLED light panels, basictelemedicine support, RFID link with patients RFID or short rangecommunication bracelets, RFID tags on devices and RFID reader andbuilt-in inventory management software, tagged tools such as EKG, bloodpressure and USB based diagnostic devices (such as 12.5 Mhz ultrasound,or EKG card), AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) and disposables(bandages, drugs, fluids, tourniquets, splinters, etc.). In anembodiment RFID tagging would enable software to track device andresource use, to help determine resupply needs and provide real-timefield data to incident command on types of injuries treated, disposablesconsumed and requirements. Moreover, this platform would allow automaticmanagement of the warehouse as well as rapid automatic packaging ofspecialties according to a specific disaster and its characteristicrequirements, e.g. fluids, intra-osseous infusion kits and vacuumsplinters for deployment in an earthquake, or other specialty packs.Similarly RFID tagging could prompt suitable advice pages to appear on ascreen to assist on diagnosis, or provide learning videos/education.Said diagnosis screens could prompt a series of associated questions,checks or other relevant medical history information. For large scalerefugee or pandemic disasters, further embodiments could supportadditional specialist packs such as SNP, DNA arrays or lab on chipreaders, for assisting viral or blood assessment, to identify viruses,blood poisoning or other genetic disorders. Similarly said intelligentmedical kit in future embodiments could support modules, tools such asguided a intratracheal intubation ambu-aScope, automatic intraosseusline, wireless therapeutic US and enhanced telemedicine, guidedthoracotomy, peritoneal lavage or advanced medical materials; powderedblood, powdered platelets, regenerative skin, biological glues,respirocytes.

Said PDA being used as an overall control interface, UI to select andcontrol information or connect with devices or display information onthe separate display screen. Said PDA accessing a similar softwareapplication to the client side phone to enable more detailed diagnosticand e-triage or accessing of bracelet patient information, or in furtherembodiments containing dedicated sensors and diagnostic devices. SaidPDA when mounted in the docking point being chargeable by means of theUSB hub and power back, said USB hub also providing power and dataconnectivity to a plurality of modular devices and tools or separateback-up power packs suitable for said devices, torches or accessories.Said USB hub also connected to a memory such as a SD Card, which maypreferably be customized prior to dispatch to a field site toappropriate disaster type data.

Said power-back preferably comprising at least two independent lithiumor other battery cells, such that one battery can be used whilst theother is being charged. Said charging means including renewablesolutions such as flexible photo-voltaic panels used on the externalsurface of the medical kit, or as a separate un-foldable unit, or via anaccessory mechanical charging device. Said overall power-back beingconnectable to a charging station rack for powering multiple batteriesduring storage or deployment, e.g. during air or container dispatch to adisaster site, so that power-backs can arrive topped up and ready foruse.

Said overall intelligent medical kit, having a modular construction, sothat sub-kits such as disposables can be easily loaded and replaced, ornew tools added and placed in appropriate docking points easily bymanual or automated (e.g. warehouse conveyors or simple roboticsystems). Said overall modular construction also favoring attachment ofdeployment layer means, such as directional parachutes, or stacking ontocontainers for mass deployment, or for attaching to a UAV deploymentplatform and drop frame as part of a deployment system (DS).

Said modular construction also being standardized to facilitate aplurality of other modular aid solutions (MAS) capable of beingdelivered by suitable deployment systems. Said solutions could forexample include an Energy generating module such as photovoltaic, fuelbased, hydro or mechanical, a Habitat in a box, such as tent forms, orrapid assembly shelters suitable for use as medical clinics or habitats,Communications modules—suitable for recreating mobile phone transpondersor satellite connectivity, or local mesh network hub support.

Further embodiments may include sensor modules suitable for assistingspecific disaster scenarios for site assessment such as HD video andwireless connectivity to held-held PDA displays, Infra Red scanning toidentify heat sources or bodies within a space or at night,environmental sensors to measure water properties, chemical or otherhazard properties, water toxins or pollutants, vegetation density andflammability. In the case of large-scale disasters in an urban area,such sensors in preferred embodiments could be attached to UAV (unmannedaerial vehicles) which could be controlled from a remote site or supportonboard auto-pilot or GPS aided navigation means to navigate a path orflight plan over a disaster site, or fly or hover between buildingstructures, or explore within buildings or cavities (or enabled by smallground or portable remote vehicles and sensor devices). Such sensorplatforms could work as clusters of devices to improve coverage time, orallow greater resolution of sensor coverage.

In preferred embodiments clusters or swarms of UAVs could be locallycontrolled by means of a central UAV which supports more advancednavigation or remote control means, and support local wirelesscommunication for navigating/controlling a swarm of nearby devices. Suchan embodiment would have the benefit that ‘slave’ UAVs could be at asubstantially lower price point or in certain circumstances bedisposable or single-use devices, and thereby support coverage across awide region, or ability to carry multiple payloads. Said UAVs could alsobe used to rapidly locate personnel within a disaster site, such aspersonnel wearing said electronic bracelets, or carrying end clientphone devices, and also support local mesh networking and communicationsrelay support or data exchange with bracelets and phone devices. Saiddevices also preferably being able to aid phone device location throughbeing able to create local triangulation references to measure signalstrength. Said approaches could similarly be used by ground or sea basedROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles), which could similarly be utilized asdeployment systems for delivering aid solutions.

In further embodiments, deployment systems and modular aid solutionscould include robotic platforms, capable of delivering assistance withina field situation—such as lifting or cutting heavy objects, or reachingextreme/difficult locations (e.g. in mountainous terrain, or damagedskyscrapers). Said devices may be capable of aiding forest firereduction, building repair/stability or repairing flood defense systemsor assembling sand-bags or other defensive measures. Similarly miniaturerobotic systems or robotic snakes could be deployed to facilitate searchand rescue or delivery of aid to casualties in a building collapse orinaccessible area, where for example a robotic system could deliveremergency intravenous liquids, injections and medicine, and establishcommunications with casualties for the purpose of advice, triageassessment and comfort.

In further embodiments, where said deployment layers could includeparachute forms made from a thermally insulating foil material so thatthey could be re-used in the field for body warmth. Said foil chutecould be contained in small modules affixed for example to a first aidelectronic bracelet canister. In other deployment approaches, smallinflatable units could be inflated by a gas unit or by a deploymentlayer apparatus, and allow small modular aid solutions to be droppedclose to the ground such that the inflatable protects the landing, oracts as a floatation aid. In a preferred embodiment a UAV deploymentplatform containing a deployment layer and plurality of bracelet/minifirst aid packs and inflatable's/foil chutes could follow a plannedtrajectory and identify casualties on the ground (or via the assistanceof a remote control map link and selection means on a phone applicationor rugged PDA by a first responder), and drop small parcels of aid toindividuals. Such an approach could facilitate rapid initial response oftrackers, e-triage monitoring bracelets and basic aid to victims acrossa wide disaster site, or to inaccessible sites, such as house roofs in aflood scenario.

Said UAV deployment systems for disaster sensors, medical aid ande-bracelet sensors, being preferably pre-deployed to warehouses (such asFEMA locations) or other sites near areas at higher risk of disasters,such as earthquake zones (e.g. San Andreas/Bay Area), or hurricanezones, or storing remote operating vehicles in sea vessels within rangeof tsunami risk sites, to facilitate the speed of response in the eventof a disaster. Similarly larger scale deployment platforms could usehigh-altitude air platforms, blimps or dirigibles, or space platformssuch as low earth orbit satellites in support of communication modules,such as transponders or repeaters, or sensor modules, such as HD camerasand Infra-red, or in combination with a plurality of platforms of UAVsfor synthetic aperture radar sensing technologies, or for storage of lowweight aid systems, such as e-bracelets or other aid solutions. In theevent of large scale heighten crises, requiring rapid response, civilianairplane fleet could also include solution modules capable of beingdeployed in flight, and in future, space systems could support theability to drop a module to anywhere on earth within 45 minutes of adisaster, to provide a local communications module or other solutionaid.

Deployment systems may also preferably include local flight controlmeans, such as an local Air Traffic Control system for UAV movements, tobe able to ensure UAV's deployed in a civilian area (pre disaster/airspace restrictions) are tracked, reported and coordinated to avoidconflicts within the air-space with civilian or military air systems, orother air users. Such systems could be deployed as solution modules, forexample comprising a deployable portable radar system (such as thosemade by Raytheon) which could be dropped to a site by means of a airdrop and directed parachute, in combination with local 50-75 m radiusair control systems, as proposed by SAVDS. Such an approach as part ofsaid deployment system would enable a rapid deployment and authorizationto use UAV platforms in the event of a disaster, at standards close tothose expected by air authorities such as FAA. Similar use of saidplatforms could enable local operations to be established in remote,conflict or politically sensitive areas of operation, where data andlocal air information could be made available, or controlled by localgovernment or military resources, whilst still providing common datastandards such as DMS to enable data interaction. Said systems couldalso in preferred environments support fire-walls, or other securitymeans, or keep isolated or in country of origin, technologies, such asflight control or autopilot means, that have restrictions on technologytransfer.

Similarly in the event of certain disaster risks, e.g. forest fires,ballistic systems could be used to dispatch solution modules ormicro-UAV systems rapidly to a fire site, to aid sensing, evacuation orlocal incident response.

Risk assessment of potential disaster sites could help pre-deployment ofmodular aid solutions and UAV/ROV platforms, including identifyingsuitable big box retailers that could carry medical aid kits ascommercial items, with live inventory visibility and RFID tagging toenable rapid pre-authorized distribution of collection in the event ofdisasters. Post event analysis, of behavioral patterns of e-triage,tracking/tagging maps of victims, recovery rates, and evacuation rateswould in preferred embodiments create substantial data mines held withinthe back-end data infrastructure enabling better forecasting andprioritization for future disasters. Similarly early tremor analysis,provided by geo-tagging and mapping correlative phone accelerometervibrations, could enable improved forecasting of subsequent larger earthquake events. Such data could be locally cached on phones and shared asa form of background distributed sensor network reporting tool, tocontribute to safety research as a virally adopted program, e.g. whenphones are left in charge docking stations. Such an approach could alsobe used to send DMS messages to critical infrastructure to shut downmachinery, transport systems, or electricity/gas infrastructure withinthe first few moments of a major quake or disaster event, potentiallyprotecting significant resources from increased damages. Similarly suchrapid messaging approaches could pause traffic lights, or be a triggerin releasing phone application locks, or raising the alert orpreparedness status, or raising the threshold/volume of local caching ofdata in advance of a disaster likelihood.

Said incident control and backend management systems could thereforemaintain a permanent presence and control and aggregate significant datafeeds, from worldwide sensor networks, satellite and space monitoringand image systems, data feeds such as consumer behaviors or socialnetworks, such as Twitter, or phone activities, in order to performcomplex behavioral modeling, fusion modeling, cluster analysis and rapidneural network or Artificially intelligent pattern recognition toidentify trends of patterns. Such techniques have already been indicatedfor pandemic spotting, but could be used more extensively with thebenefits of the medical and triage embodiments in providingsignificantly increased access to qualified data.

Visualization means in preferred embodiments can further aid rapidanalysis and decision support, such as algorithmic clustering via aalgorithms weighted by trust level, population impact, number ofincidents. Back end software and data infrastructure preferablyincluding command can control systems to support decision making,analysis of incoming DMS messages and reports from phone client softwareapplications, triage data, and enable incident managers to controladvice, evacuation and guidance advice to sub-populations of softwareapplication users, to over-ride of complement default settings andevacuation data stored in local caches. In preferred embodimentsincident managers could view a visualization of disaster zone, majorevacuation paths, and select proportions to be directed to differentpaths (e.g. bridges, major roads), and authorize targeting or ofspecific advice messages at different times to sub-clusters of enddevices, or be assisted by algorithmic means in calculating optimalpaths by considering person or vehicle density, behavioral models,disaster site information/obstacles, and formulae, for example geo-tagtriangulation analysis and sending messages to ensure safe dispersal tonearest or optimal guided paths. Such systems could also be applied inlarge scale civilian sporting or other events to aid modeling, mappingof arrival and dispersal of crowds and spectators. Various real-time,post-event analysis could aid in the development of optimal guidance andevacuation ontologies, in response to different disaster scenarios, andrapid forecasting (e.g. of fire spread or weather patterns impactingtoxic gas or other dangerous substance) dispersals could further aid andadapt real-time guidance maps.

Referring to FIG. 1, overall CME 2 is shown as example to include a backend data 14 and server 15 infrastructure with visualization systems 16and incident managers 17 forming an overall incident commandinfrastructure 32, radio mast or transponders 12, a physical or wirelessnetwork 11, sensors 33, reduced service mast 7, inoperable masts ortransponders 8, UAV platform 9 carrying a payload 10 which indicated asa temporary communications unit broadcasting a signal 35, wearablebracelets 29, phone client units 5, 27, 6 in the disaster site which isindicated with intact buildings 28 and damaged or collapsed structures13; modular aid solutions 3 are shown as example to include fieldresources such as portable first aid kits 24, electronic triage braceletand Phone packs 21, and warehouse or response modules such asintelligent medical kits 22, and portable carrying apparatus 31,droppable first aid canisters 23, charging and packing stations 19,sensor modules 14; deployment system 4 is shown as example to includedeployment UAV platforms 18, sensor carrying platforms 9 which maypreferably support loading and deployment layers and chutes. Where forexample people 26, 25, 28, 20, 30, 34 are caught up in disaster site. Inan example scenario civilians 25 have access to a phone client unit 5which has connectivity to the network 11 via a semi-operablecommunications unit 7 or a temporary UAV platform 18, where said phoneclient unit 5 is shown receiving a compact DMS message 28 providingupdated evacuation advice. In another scenario civilian 26 is shown withaccess to a phone client unit 27 which has no live connectivity but canstill access basic evacuation data and advice that had been previouslycached locally in the device memory before the incident took place, oron a delay tolerance when passing through an area of livecommunications, and is also able to direct/advise other groups of people28 without phone client units 27. In another scenario there is a shown acollapsed structure 13 with casualties 20 in proximity to the building,and a further person 34 with access to a phone client 6 where saidperson 34 is a semi-qualified or professional resource with some medicalknowledge who is able to use the software application to assess andreport on the disaster site 13 and use the device to assist in theprocess of electronic triage of the casualties 20, where preferably saidperson 34, also has proximity to a basic first aid kit 24 containingelectronic bracelets 21, 29, or is directed by the phone application toa nearby first aid kit (e.g. in an office or vehicle) and can use thekit and electronic bracelets 21,29 to aid in the assessment ofcasualties, where other persons 30, have similar access to a supply ofelectronic bracelets (e.g. via an air drop or UAV 18 delivery), or havealready been assessed.

FIG. 2. Shows a schematic of a User interface and window function flow26 for an example software application for running on a phone clientdevice 5, where example menu option 37 provides a means of a usersending an emergency priority message using the compact DMS message 28,example menu option 38 provides a means for submitting a crises report,such as categorization, photographs, recordings and description of adamaged site, which would be geo-tagged and compressed for key data intoa similar DMS message 28, or sent with media if bandwidth is availableor on request along with a trust level identified by the user typeregistration enabling incident command 32 to analyse and qualify theinformation, example menu 39 provides a further reporting example forassessing medical needs, at the patient or group level, and enteringinitial diagnostic or triage assessment to create a patient record andpreferably also in combination with an electronic bracelet 29.

FIG. 3. Shows a further schematic of a phone client device 5 running asoftware application displaying an example evacuation map 40, andsuggested route 41 to a evacuation path or safe cluster area 42, wheresaid path may be calculated on the software application on receipt of aDMS message alert 28, containing hazard and evacuation geo-taginformation, or calculated from a recently cached local points ofinterest data message in the absence of a real-time communicationnetwork, and said DMS message preferably encoding data into a preferredDML mark-up data string 49 of key mapping features. The back-end dataand server infrastructure at incident command 32, is also shown, wherebyoperators 17 may use a visualization system 16 to display a commandcontrol application 43, capable of showing a incident map 48 stored on alocal database 14, and highlighting the risk or disaster site area 45and using algorithmic and analysis means on said server 15, to calculatepreferred evacuation routes 46, 47 based on numerous factors includingan assessment of data reports from the field sent by end phone clientdevice users, population analysis of mobile phone density or other dataaggregation means or from user assisted instructions such as preferablyusing a multi-touch user interface where incident operators 17 can drawor outline evacuation routes. On confirming a preferred route andselecting, in this example, traffic percentages 46, the system wouldcalculate and send geo-targeted DMS 28 messages to appropriatesub-groups within or near the disaster site 45, to provide appropriategeo-locally specific advice and guided evacuation to personnel andcivilians in the field.

FIG. 4 shows an example schematic of a client phone device 6 being usedto facilitate the qualified reporting of a disaster site using menuselections 50 and categorizing via tiered menu icons 51, and enteringuser data or using the device to capture local data 52 via embeddedsensors or recording means, and then converting into DMS messages 28,comprised of coded strings 49 to be sent as short messages over a delaytolerant network. Said messages 28 being received by incident command 32and categorized to aid operators 17 and systems 15 in rapidly assessingsite damages to aid prioritization. Said software application beingsimilarly used for reporting casualty or other victim electronic triageassessment.

FIG. 5 shows example first aid capsule 53 and kit 54 (as modular aidsolution 3) that could be rapidly deployed to the scene by deploymentsystems, such as UAV (e.g. 18) or targeted air-drops, or availablewithin the disaster site, at offices, medical centers, big-box retailstores, or pre-deployed in vending machines, or available to qualifiedresources in vehicles or other locations. Said capsule 53 preferablycomprising a droppable canister containing a plurality of electronictriage bracelets 29 and phone client unit 5. Said capsule 53 in afurther embodiment may be the approximate size and form of a beer can,and capable of being stored in a vending machine. Said capsule 53 beingpreferably reversibly attachable to a first aid kit 54 containing basicdisposable and diagnostic resources as described herein, where said kit54 can also preferably be carried on the person such as via a strap 55or easily attached to a deployment layer (such as a parachute, orinflatable) where dropped into a field. Said plurality of electronicbracelets 59, being used to rapidly assess and electronically score andtag casualties in a disaster site by using the phone client device 5,and said bracelets 59 possessing a face 60 to show a visual record of anelectronic triage assessment or vital signs measurement, together withdata storage, alert and communication means.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a modular aid solution (3) being anintelligent medical kit 64 capable of being worn on the person by meansof an outer case 65 capable of also attaching specialist modules such asresuscitation 66 or specialist disposables such as orthopedic vacuumsplinters 67. Said intelligent medical kit 64 shown as comprisingbackground OLED lighting 68, docking point 69 for a detachable ruggedPDA or smart-phone 5 (not shown), phone charger contact 70, labelprinter 71, slave OLED or e-Ink low power screen 72 (suitable forshowing patient records, diagnostic advice or learning), a carryinghandle 73, wireless radio antenna 74 (suitable for also creating a localhot-spot/network), super-bright LED torch and spotlight 75 also suitablefor rotation or removal and usable for medical diagnosis, a removable 64battery pack 76, removable clips 77, USB hub 78 for data connectivityand power control between devices and tools within the overallintelligent medical kit, a second battery pack 79, removable fold flat48 W solar panel sheets 81 capable to be storable within the surface ofthe medical kit (or within wearable case 65), EKG cord and cablesub-unit 80, USB ultrasound sub-unit 82 (capable of connecting to acharger point and to the USB data and power hub 78), defibrillatorsub-unit 83, and blood pressure monitors sub-unit 84, where said overallmedical kit 64 or battery packs 76,79 are capable of being charged whenplaced in a charging and storage rack 19 by means of contact orproximity wireless charging points 63.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with referenceto example embodiments it is expressly understood that it is in no waylimited to the disclosure of such example and preferred embodimentswithin the domain of disaster response systems, but is capable ofnumerous modifications within the spirit and scope of the underlyinginventions. By way of reference said DMS messaging language, and localcaching of data, together with DML mapping and mark-up layers, andresource ontologies may have wider application in civilian and regularcommercial applications, for the provision of information services, oroffering products, location, news of event activity. Similarly UAVplatforms and logistics systems herein described may have applicabilityin the distribution of materials and packages, or for distributionwithin facilities or buildings. Similar medical aid, electronicbracelets and triage systems have been described largely in the contextof disaster site management but have wide applicability in large sitesof ongoing crises such as famine and refugee centers, urban slums,military theatres of war, and in hospitals and assisted care monitoringof the elderly.

1. A disaster response system, comprising: a communication andmonitoring environment (CME) including: an incident commandinfrastructure; a communication infrastructure configured to exchangedata with the incident command infrastructure, wherein the communicationinfrastructure includes a network comprising a plurality of sensorassemblies that are configured to wirelessly communicate with thecommunication infrastructure; wherein the sensor assemblies areconfigured to acquire data that includes at least one of environmentalconditions, motion, position, chemical detection, and medicalinformation; wherein one or more of the sensors are configured toaggregate data from a subset of the plurality of sensors; and whereinthe CME is configured to detect an incident based on at least the dataacquired by the sensor assemblies.
 2. The disaster response system ofclaim 1, further comprising a physical deployment system configured todeliver a modular aid solution in response to the detected incident. 3.The disaster response system of claim 2, wherein the physical deploymentsystem includes an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).
 4. The disasterresponse system of claim 2, wherein the physical deployment system isconfigured to actuate a function on one of a wearable device and a firstaid diagnostic kit.
 5. The disaster response system of claim 1, whereineach of the sensor assemblies comprises at least one of a cellularphone, and a wearable device configured to be worn by a user.
 6. Thedisaster response system of claim 1, wherein the CME is configured todetect an incident based on one or more of historical data from one ormore of the sensor assemblies, aggregate data from two or more of thesensor assemblies, and a correlation between data obtained from a firstsensor assembly and data obtained from a second sensor assembly.
 7. Thedisaster response system of claim 1, wherein the CME is configured todetect at least one of: a step change in data obtained from one or moreof the plurality of sensor assemblies; and a change in a pattern of dataobtained from one or more of the plurality of sensor assemblies.
 8. Thedisaster response system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the sensorassemblies comprises a wearable device configured to be worn by a user;wherein the wearable device is configured to communicate wirelessly withthe communication infrastructure; and wherein the wearable deviceincludes a sensor that is configured to detect a vital sign of the user.9. The disaster response system of claim 8, wherein the wearable devicecomprises a wearable bracelet.
 10. The disaster response system of claim8, wherein the wearable device includes stored data and is configured tocommunicate the stored data with the communication infrastructure. 11.The disaster response system of claim 1, wherein at least one of thesensor assemblies comprises a set of algorithms analyzing the situationand drawing at least one action upon this analysis in the form of atleast one semiautomatic response.
 12. The disaster response system ofclaim 1, wherein at least one of the sensor assemblies comprises a setof algorithms analyzing the situation and drawing at least one actionupon this analysis in the form of at least one automatic response. 13.The disaster response system of claim 1, wherein the CME is configuredto detect an incident based on one or more of real-time data from one ormore of the sensor assemblies, humans, and computational analysesaggregate data from two or more of the sensor assemblies, humans, andcomputational analyses, and a correlation between data obtained from afirst sensor assembly and data obtained from a second sensor assembly.